Casting apparatus.



No. 807,072. {PATENTED' DEG. 12,1905. 0. D. GRIMBS, B. P. EILERMAN & T.A. LEGLER, JR.

CASTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.13, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1. i m

Witnesses 3m ma. Y

No. 807,072. PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905. 0. D. GRIMBS, B. F. EILERMAN & T.A. LBGLBR, JR.

' CASTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED AUG.13, 1904.

ZFi -3 d wammw 0. D. GRIMES, B. F. BILERMAN & T. A. LEGLBR, JR.

CASTING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED we. 13, 1904.

PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ll ml voir or pot and vacuum-chamber.

UNITED STATES CHARLES D. GRTMES, BENJAMIN F. EILERMAN, AND THOMAS A.LEGLER,

rnrnrrr OFFICE.

JR, or DAYTON, orno.

CASTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES D. GRIMEs, BENJAMIN F. EILERMAN, and THoMAsA. LEG- LER, J r., citizens of the United States, residing at Dayton, inthe county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Casting Apparatus, of which the following isa specification.

Our invention relates to the art of making castings from molten metal,and especially relates to the means and mechanism employed.

The object of our invention is to provide simple and efficient meanswhereby castings from molten metal may be cheaply and rapidly made by aperson unskilled in the molding art.

A further object is to provide means whereby castings may be producedhaving a smooth even surface and whereby the casting will be solidthroughout, containing a minimum amount of air-bubbles.

A further object is to provide means wherebyv castings having very thinwebs or flanges or other projections of small dimensions may besuccessfully made by forcing the molten metal into such parts of themold under pressure or by means other than gravity or the weight of themolten metal. This feature will be found especially advantageous incasting light alloys, such as contain a high percent. of aluminium,antimony, or tin.

W'ithv the above primary and other incidental objects in view ourinvention consists of the parts, constructions, and modes of operationor their equivalents hereinafter described,

and set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of theapparatus employed in making the-castings. Fig. 2 is a plan view, partlyin section, of same. Fig. 3 is a sectional View showing the metal reser-Fig. i is an end elevation, partly broken away, of devices shown in Fig.3. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the swivel support for thesupporting-shafts.

nection of the supporting-shafts. Fig. 7 shows amodified form ofapparatus. Like parts are indicated by similar characters of referencethroughout the several views. In the said drawings, a is a casingadapted to contain the means for heating the metal in the pot a, whichis supported within the eas- Fig. 6 is a detail of the con ing a. Thecasing 03 is extended at one side to form the walls of a vacuum-chambera Z) is a separable die or mold removably secured to a carriage b bymeans of clamps 6 The carriage b is slidably mounted on parallelsupporting-shafts 0 0. One end of each of said shafts is supported inears 0, extending from the casing 60. The opposite ends of the shafts c0 are connected by a cross-bar 0 having at its middle and extending atright angles thereto a trunnion 0 (See Fig. 6.) The trunnion 0 has abearing in. the swivel-block c, which has pivotal connections at rightangles to said trunnion with the bifurcated member 0 This bifurcatedmember 0 is adjustably secured by means of a' set-screw 0 Fig. 1, in thestand 0 which stand is in turn removably secured by clamps c to thetable 0 Adjacent to the cross-bar c connecting the shafts c0 andsupported thereby, is a second cross-bar d, having at its middle ahearing for a vertical shaft 0?, carrying at its lower end a crank-arm dand at its upper end a handle 03 A link (i connects the crank-arm (Z andthe carriage Z). By means of the handle (Z and its connections with thecarriage b the carriage is moved upon the shafts 0 c and the die iswithdrawn from the vacuum-chamber a for the ejection of the finishedcasting.

The metal-pot a is provided with a lid a which is secured on the pot bya set-screw a in such manner as to hermetically seal said pot. The pot ais further provided with an inclined conduit having itsdischarge-orifice above the metal-level of the pot. A spout a isremovably secured to the orifice of the conduit 0 by a clamp a and formsthe connection between the conduit a and the separable metal-die b.Secured to and movable with the die 6 is a plate 5 which forms one sideof the vacuum-chamber a and is adapted when in place to form anair-tight joint with the walls of said chamber.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, e is an air-compressor of any convenientform, and e is a compressed-air reservoir. An intake-pipe e of thecompressor, provided W1th a regulat1ng valve 6 is connected with thevacuum-chamber (0 and in the opposite side of said vacuumchamber is aninlet air-cock e. The object of this connection of the air-compressorwith the vacuum-chamber is twofold: First, the passage of air throughthe vacuum-chamber while the air-cock e is open tends to cool themetaldie I) after each successive operation; second, when the air-cock eis shut off preparatory to casting at the time the reservoir 6 has beenfilled almost to its capacity and the compressor is continued inoperation the air is exhausted from the chamber a and when the metal isforced into the die, as hereinafter described, it is not necessary thatit should overcome the resistance of air in the die; but instead itflows freely into all remote parts of the die, which is practically avacuum, thus permitting the casting of very thin and small parts andavoiding the danger of air-bubbles. The flow-of molten metal into thedie is induced by pressure of air on top of the molten metal in the pota, the compressed air being conducted from the reservoir 6 to the pot aat a point above the metal-line through the pipe 6 in which is placed aregulating-valve e.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a modification in which the die Z) is supportedin a simple manner at the end of a shaft f, mounted in a stand f. Inthis modified form the metal-pot is shown bowl-shaped, as at g, and theinclined spout is curved, as at g. Arranged about the bottom of the bowlg is a thick layer of fireclay 9 in which are embedded wires 9 affordingmeans for electrically heating the metal within the pot.

By the above arrangement it will be seen that our apparatus is extremelysimple. The use of valves between the melting-pot and mold is entirelydispensed with. This is important, because in machines of this characterwhere valves are employed which come in contact with the hot metal theysoon become useless either from the heat of the metal or from theaccumulation of metal thereon. The air-pressure is put directly on themeltingpot, which connects directly with the mold without the aid ofvalves, and thus insures proper delivery of the metal at all times. Thevacuum-chamber aids in insuring the proper delivery of the metal to allparts of the mold.

Having thus described our invention, we claim 1. In a casting apparatusas described, a closed melting-pot, a die connecting with saidmelting-pot by means of an unobstructed conduit leading from the lowerpart of said melting-pot to a point above the level of the metal withinsaid pot, a pressure-chamber connected to said melting-pot, avacuum-chamber surrounding said die, a pump between said vacuum andpressure chambers, and a valved valved connection from said reservoir tosaid melting-pot, an unobstructed conduit leading from said pot to saiddie, and a valved atmospheric opening from said vacuum-chamber, whichopening forms the atmospheric supply to'said pump, whereby the air forsaid pressure-reservoir is drawn through said vacuumchamber when saidvalve is opened, and drawn from said chamber when said valve is closed,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

' 3. In a casting-machine as described, a melting-pot, a die removablysecured to a reciprocating carriage, parallel supporting-shafts for saidcarriage, means for reciprocating said carriage, a stationary supportfor one end of said shafts, and an adjustable swiveled support for theother end of said shafts, and pneumatic means for forcing the moltenmetal from the pot to the die, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

4:. In a casting apparatus, aclosed metalpot, a die, a conduit leadingfrom said melting-pot to said die, a vacuum-chamber around said die, avalved atmospheric opening leading to said chamber, an air-compressorand an air-reservoir, and connection from said chamber to saidcompressor, and from said compressor to said reservoir, and a valvedconnection from said reservoir to said melting-pot, said valvedatmospheric opening being adapted to form the atmospheric air-supply forsaid compressor through said chamber when said valve is opened, and tocause said chamber to be exhausted by said compressor when said valve isclosed, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 5th day ofJuly, A. D. 1904.

CHARLES D. GRIMES. BENJAMIN F. EILERMAN. THOMAS A. LEGLER, JR.

Witnesses:

F. G. BURDET'r, ED ARD R. MUELLER, IDA L. KUHN.

